OSPE working to welcome next generation of women engineers with open arms
The number of women working in engineering over the last decade has increased by only 2% in Ontario. Groups across the province are calling for action.
Chemical feed flowmeters must be extremely accurate
An over- or underdose of chemical can adversely affect treated water quality and can lead to wasted chemicals, which also has a financial impact. Accurately monitoring the amount of chemical being dosed into the system is crucial to ensuring effective water treatment.
Harbour expansion project created numerous environmental challenges
The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project has been in the works for years. By deepening the 14-metre-wide river channel by 1.5 metres, ships will be...
Products & Services Showcase – 4th Edition
We encourage you to check out these highlighted products and services from our advertisers. Without them, we would not be able to share water, wastewater and environmental protection news, articles and case studies.
Hydro excavation waste slurries should no longer be a worry
Hydro excavation, also known as daylighting, trenchless digging, and non-destructive digging results in slurry, made up of 60% water and 40% solids. This type of byproduct is difficult and expensive to deal with, especially if the intention is to dump it at a landfill site, due to its solid/liquid state and weight.
Products & Services Showcase – 3rd Edition
We encourage you to check out these highlighted products and services from our advertisers. Without them, we would not be able to share water, wastewater and environmental protection news, articles and case studies.
Drinking water source protection in Ontario 20 years after Walkerton
Local committees were established to bring about actions to protect sources of municipal residential drinking water systems across Ontario. They developed source protection plan policies using scientific data, including soil type, watershed time of travel of contaminants, depth of aquifer, etc., to delineate drinking water vulnerable areas.
Products & Services Showcase
We encourage you to check out these highlighted products and services from our advertisers. Without them, we would not be able to share water, wastewater and environmental protection news, articles and case studies.
Private side standards for sanitary and stormwater sewer infrastructure are woefully inadequate
Unacceptable amounts of inflow and infiltration (I/I) in new construction have been identified as a significant issue, particularly with the advent of more frequent and more intense rainfall events.
With many water professionals set to retire, Canadian schools work to prepare a new...
By David Nesseth
It was 2016 when the Ontario Clean Water Agency felt the true extent of a serious long-term issue that it knew loomed...
Seamless integration of all devices is necessary in a digital environment
In the context of Industry 4.0, sensors and control systems are becoming the ears and the heartbeat of processes across all industries. Advancements of...
Editorial comment: Why do we continue unquestioningly to artificially fluoridate our drinking water?
By George Pastoric
Many wonderful slogans are used by Water Environment Federation and American Water Works Association chapters throughout North America and Canada, acknowledging the...
Combating microbial induced concrete corrosion at wastewater plants
Microbial induced concrete corrosion in sewage and water treatment systems is a "natural enemy" of conventional plants, frequently causing damage to concrete and metal...
World Water Day celebrates Green Infrastructure
World Water Day 2018 is dedicated to Nature for Water, a concept that explores nature-based solutions for water challenges in the 21st century.
Saint John using orthophosphate to stabilize leaky pipe scale
Saint John City Council in New Brunswick has agreed to use an orthophosphate treatment system to resolve problems that have occured after it switched...
Advanced pump station monitoring provides real-time data for performance analysis
Volucalc, a device from Canadian manufacturer Maid Labs, makes use of very simple information available in the pumping station to collect data and alarm the operator if anything goes wrong.
Geosmin in lake water may be the cause of unpalatable fish
Geosmin has a very low taste and odour threshold. The human nose and palate can detect its presence in water at very low concentrations of parts per billion.
Ontario funds training for widely uncertified First Nation water system operators
Just one month after the Ontario government announced $1.8 million to provide additional training for First Nation drinking water system operators, a November 2017...
U.S. firm Parsons wins bid to complete Giant Mine clean up in NWT
U.S.-based engineering services firm, Parsons Inc., has won the latest remediation contract surrounding the cleanup of arsenic trioxide waste at Yellowknife’s Giant Mine in...
StatCan seeks wastewater analyzer to gauge cannabis use
It isn’t new to test municipal wastewater for nitrogen, phosphorus or chemical oxygen demand, but using wastewater to gauge drug use among the public...
AECOM releases first global report on infrastructure
Examining the investment gap in infrastructure, resilient infrastructure and workforce needs, engineering and infrastructure firm AECOM released a global research report titled The Future...
New report: Building capacity among small water systems in BC
Approximately, 15% of BC water users receive their water from one of over 4,500 small water systems around the province. Yet, many of these small...
Company found guilty of Fisheries Act violation in Lac-Mégantic derailment case
On February 5, 2018, Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Canada Co. (MMA) was found guilty, in the Court of Quebec, of unlawfully depositing or permitting...
How one Ontario city doubled its stormwater funding
By David Nesseth
It took five years of behind-the-scenes legwork before the Ontario city of Mississauga made a dedicated stormwater fee a reality. But now,...
Sears leaves Calgary mall and questions amid unfinished remediation
Shortly after Alberta Environment officials announced in December 2017 that remediation efforts are still needed at a former Sears Canada property in Calgary, the...
Brownfield applications rolling in for Windsor, Ontario, as land prices spike
Freezing taxes for a decade, paying for feasibility and environmental studies, and chipping in for soil and groundwater testing were a few of the...
Water-related infrastructure funding announced for Alberta, Quebec
Federal-provincial funding of more than $16.3 million has been announced for four new water and wastewater projects in Alberta.
In the towns of Vermilion, Barrhead and St. Paul, wastewater treatment plant upgrades...
Canada’s new $80M oil spill protection investment relies on ocean modelling, joint research
A key plank of a new federal government initiative to protect Canada’s oceans from oil spills involves a $45.5-million program to “leverage collaboration among...
B.C. region selects group for $147M residuals treatment facility project
As construction of British Columbia’s McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant gets underway, a regional government has chosen Hartland Resource Management Group to design, build and...
Kelowna’s wastewater plant upgrades lead to end of 11-year water advisory
Kelowna’s wastewater treatment plant has existed in British Columbia since the early 1900s, undergoing a series of periodic upgrades. Now, for the first time...
Fatberg-fighting grease cup collection program launches Canada-wide
To address the fallout of paying $600,000 a year to flush out fatbergs from its wastewater system, the City of London, Ontario, has found...
An effective strategy to develop and retain young engineering professionals is important
Multi-faceted programs that combine mentoring, formal training and exposure to a variety of areas can encourage young graduates to continue as consulting engineers.
Proper sensor installation and maintenance ensures reliable data from online electrodes
Wastewater treatment plants rely on instrumentation to keep their facilities in compliance and running at optimum levels.
Ottawa firm dredging paint contamination out of Victoria Middle Harbour
Ottawa-based Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. has won a $5.3-million contract to remediate 70 years of paint factory contamination at Victoria Middle Harbour in British...
IJC calls on governments to set specific targets to accelerate Great Lakes restoration
In its First Triennial Assessment of Progress under the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the International Joint Commission calls on Canada and the...
Northern Pulp’s replacement effluent treatment facility under scrutiny in Nova Scotia
A new effluent treatment facility proposed to handle wastewater from a Northern Pulp paper mill is under fire from environmentalists.
ECO says ‘muscle and metrics’ needed to reverse Ontario’s algal bloom trend
If Ontario hopes to reverse current trends of harmful algal blooms, it needs a guiding principle around stormwater management states a new ECO report.
New research will identify how microplastics are transported into waters
Microplastics or microbeads are bits of plastic under 5 millimetres in size. They are found in cosmetics, cleaning products and clothes and are listed...
Artificial sweeteners in groundwater indicate contamination from septic systems
The presence of artificial sweeteners in rural groundwater shows evidence of groundwater contamination by local septic system wastewater, according to researchers from the University...
WE&RF and Ontario WaterTAP announce new partnership
The Water Environment & Reuse Foundation (WE&RF) announced a new partnership with the Ontario Water Technology Acceleration Project (WaterTAP) at the World Water-Tech North America Summit...
Canadian Concrete Pipe & Precast Association releases Environmental Product Declaration
The Canadian Concrete Pipe & Precast Association (CCPPA) presented their newly-developed Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) to its membership at their Fall meeting on October...
The evolution and growth of Sudbury’s wastewater treatment plant
By Joshua Ranger
The Sudbury Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Ontario has evolved tremendously over its 45 years of existence. This can be attributed to...
Arsenic exposure in U.S. drinking water declines following new EPA regulations
New research found that arsenic exposure in drinking water was significantly reduced among Americans using public water systems following the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...
Nova Scotia continues its mercury diversion program
The government of Nova Scotia announced on October 12, 2017, that it is making changes to its air quality regulations to allow a mercury...
Researchers find metal salts significantly reduce wastewater treatment odours
Researchers from University of British Columbia's Okanagan (UBC) campus say they have developed a new way of making wastewater treatment dramatically safer and better...
Clear lakes disguise impaired water quality
Lakes in agricultural areas surrounded by fields often appear green in colour due to nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilizers. Excess fertilizer that runs into...
Ontario’s Chief Drinking Water Inspector releases annual report
The Chief Drinking Water Inspector’s Annual Report provides information about the performance of Ontario’s regulated drinking water systems and laboratories, drinking water test results,...
Water Research Foundation and Water Environment & Reuse Foundation to merge
The Water Environment & Reuse Foundation (WE&RF) and Water Research Foundation (WRF) announced that their respective boards voted unanimously to integrate the two organizations...
Engineers Canada partners with Germany to expand climate risk PIEVC Protocol
The Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) Protocol will be used in 14 new countries to assess climate risks and vulnerabilities across a wide...
Methods to eliminate common pesticide atrazine in surface water
Atrazine, widely used as a weedkiller, is known to have harmful effects on aquatic wildlife and presents a risk to human health by altering...
Toronto Water develops 20-year energy optimization plan
By Abhay Tadwalkar, Toronto Water
As the City of Toronto’s largest energy user, Toronto Water has actively sought to implement capital projects and operational changes...
Antidepressants found in fish brains in Great Lakes region
Human antidepressants are building up in the brains of bass, walleye and several other fish common to the Great Lakes region, scientists say. In...
Nova Scotia receives feedback on proposed cap-and-trade program
The government of Nova Scotia said it has received feedback on its proposed cap-and-trade program to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The comments were in...
Study shows subdivisions have ‘unacceptably high’ rates of sewer inflow and infiltration
By Barbara Robinson and Dan Sandink
An ongoing survey of Ontario municipalities is being conducted to identify the underlying causes and conditions of, as well as...
Survey of large-scale pump system optimization practices
By Morris Liu, City of Calgary
The Canadian Water and Wastewater Association conducted a national survey on large-scale pumping system optimization. It identifies what products/practices...
Newfoundland announces millions for municipal infrastructure
Newfoundland and Labrador have announced $38.8 million for projects that will support improvements in municipal infrastructure. The announcement was made by Newfoundland and Labrador...
Report identifies ways to improve flood resilience in Calgary
The Bow River Water Management Project report outlines both short- and long-term options to build multiple layers of resilience throughout the Bow River basin to...
Injecting manure into soil reduces estrogen runoff loads
A new study shows that applying manure to crop fields by means of shallow disk injection into the soil, rather than traditional surface broadcast,...
Ontario to support municipal GHG reduction projects
Ontario announced it is investing in local projects to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from municipalities. According to the Ministry of the Environment...
Cornell tests smart, resilient underground infrastructure
By Syl Kacapyr
The future looks “smart” for underground infrastructure after a first-of-its-kind experiment was recently conducted at the Cornell University’s Geotechnical Lifelines Large-Scale Testing...
Reducing the risk of Legionnaires’ disease from contaminated water systems
By Dan Broder
Legionnaires’ disease, a severe and potentially deadly form of pneumonia, is increasingly a threat to public health. Canada made headlines when news...
The Government of Canada invests $25.7 million in the Lake Winnipeg Basin Program
The Government of Canada announced it will invest $25.7 million in the Lake Winnipeg Basin Program, with a focus on reducing nutrient pollution, enhancing collaboration...
Some Canadian provinces have already met their 2030 GHG emissions targets
Under the Paris Agreement, Canada committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. However, according to the Canadian...
Report says Ontario’s stormwater infrastructure in ‘poor condition’
According to a recent report, stormwater infrastructure in Ontario is in poor condition and under tremendous strain as the number of severe flood events...
Long-term rehabilitation of a 90-year-old water reservoir
This is an overview of the long-term rehabilitation follow-up work to extend the service life of the water treatment plant reservoir in Peterborough.
Ottawa area craft brewery chooses MBBR for its wastewater treatment
The number of small craft breweries has greatly increased and so has the wastewater generated by brewers. The MBBR from Premier Tech Aqua was selected...
Reflections on engineering excellence in the 21st Century
In June 1997, I delivered a convocation address to engineering graduates of all disciplines at Ryerson Polytechnic University, titled: Towards Engineering …
World Water Day is worth paying attention to year round
World Water Day is an annual awareness project, officially celebrated on March 22, but worthy of our attention all year round.
How Lethbridge’s decommissioned water tower became a local landmark
In early 2000, a public plea was issued on the front page of the Lethbridge Herald for ideas to possibly salvage the landmark. Douglas...
Sharing sewer protection lessons with Japan
By Barry OrrThe City of London, Ontario (pop. 380,000), has 2,500 businesses and institutions such as restaurants, hospitals and groceries stores in need of...
Automatic control valves can help safely maintain tank and reservoir levels
Automatic Control Valves are designed to modulate and control water at all varying flows, and butterfly valves were originally designed to be open or closed.
Landfill-feeding seagulls pose a threat to nearby water bodies, study finds
The 1.4 million seagulls that feed at landfills across North America pose a threat to nearby water bodies, a new study from Duke University...
Innovations in polyethylene chemical storage tanks
High-density polyethylene chemical storage tanks can be made of linear polyethylene or cross-linked polyethylene. They are both made with resins that are heated to...
Septic systems are a major source of emerging contaminants in drinking water
A new analysis shows that septic systems in the U.S. routinely discharge pharmaceuticals, consumer product chemicals, and other potentially hazardous chemicals into the environment.
The...
Alberta to ‘boost’ the cleanup of old oil and gas sites to create jobs
The Alberta government introduced legislation on May 18, 2017, that would allow it to lend the Orphan Well Association (OWA) $235 million to speed...
Crypto outbreaks linked to swimming have doubled since 2014
Outbreaks of a parasitic infection linked to swimming pools and water playgrounds are increasingly being reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
Report says half of Canadian households treat drinking water
According to Statistics Canada, half of Canadian households treated their drinking water in 2015. Households in Newfoundland and Labrador (65%) were most likely to...
Radical increase in water and sanitation investment required, WHO
Countries are not increasing spending fast enough to meet the water and sanitation targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), says a new report...
Case study: Cleaning contaminated groundwater at former missile site
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Omaha District has funded the design and construction of a new groundwater treatment plant in Cheyenne, Wyoming,...
A model water treatment system for low-income communities
Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed a simple water treatment process that may make high-quality drinking water more accessible to...
Water and wastewater infrastructure funding news
Provincial and federal funding was announced for a number of water and wastewater infrastructure projects across Canada.
British Columbia
Port Alberni, British Columbia – Additional funding...
Back to the future for Fisheries Act
On February 24, 2017, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans tabled its latest report on the 2012 amendments to the...
Experts say Trump environmental budget cuts could be ‘grim’
The public is getting its first look at the Trump administration budget proposal, which includes steep cuts to federal agencies such as the Environmental...
Saskatchewan to strengthen pipeline regulations following Husky spill
Saskatchewan Energy and Resources Minister Dustin Duncan announced on March 23, 2017 that the Ministry of the Economy completed its investigation of the Husky...
Integrated process changes can prevent WWTP odour emissions
Activated sludge recycling and oxidized ammonium recycling strategies holds the potential to prevent odour emissions from wastewater treatment plants.
RFID technology helps optimize moving bed biofilters
Big data and RFID technologies represent a huge opportunity to improve biofilter equipment reliability and reduce maintenance and refurbishment costs.
Infrastructure funding announced for BC and NFLD
March has seen a number of infrastructure announcements across Canada as 2017 budgets are released. Read on to learn about funding for water, wastewater...
MOECC to finalize new Excess Soil Management Framework
Ontario's Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) recently announced its decision to proceed and finalize Ontario’s comprehensive new Excess Soil Management Policy...
Customizing water efficiency solutions for industrial manufacturers
By Alyssa Cerbu and Eric Meliton
The manufacturing sector in Canada faces many challenges related to international competition. To remain competitive, companies must seek viable...
Sludge and fly ash from paper industry could be reused in plastics production
As part of the European Union's Reffibre project, Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre (VTT) examined whether new industrial applications could be developed for various...
Edmonton evaluates LID stormwater management in cold climate conditions
Low impact development is a stormwater management and land development approach that mimics the natural hydrological cycle to manage stormwater.
Seattle wastewater treatment plant working to resume operations following massive sewage spill
Crews are working to restore normal operations at King County's West Point wastewater treatment plant in Seattle, following an early morning equipment failure on...
Alberta providing support to 31 bioenergy companies
Bioenergy is low-carbon energy or fuel made from agricultural products such as crops and livestock waste. The government of Alberta is committing $60-million to...
Wastewater infrastructure funding announced for NFLD
Newfoundland and Labrador announced millions in funding for two wastewater projects in the province on February 13, 2017.
Gander
Over $22 million in joint funding was...
GE Water and the University of Guelph collaborate on energy neutral wastewater treatment
GE’s Water & Process Technologies today announced it is collaborating with the University of Guelph on a wastewater research initiative to maximize renewable energy...
Rethinking cities in the age of increasing urbanization
When it comes to water, we see the same disparity. North Americans use more than 4,000 litres per person per day, compared with 1,800 litres in India, about 1,200 litres in China, and remarkably, less than 500 litres in Denmark.
Canada’s infrastructure plan is a chance to address urban water issues, report
A new report released by the Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW) urges the federal government to make innovative and sustainable urban water infrastructure...
Monitoring chemical substances in Canadian municipal wastewater
Municipal wastewater is recognized as an important pathway for harmful chemical substances to enter the environment. Therefore, in 2009, the Government of Canada's Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) was expanded to include monitoring and surveying chemical substances in municipal wastewater treatment plants.
First Nations Land Management Regime promises economic and social benefits
Select First Nation communities across Canada have chosen to join the First Nations Land Management Regime, which promises economic and social benefits.
How to choose between grit washing or grit classification
Grit removal in wastewater treatment protects downstream mechanical equipment and the treatment processes. However, removed grit does require dewatering.
Latest Articles
New Tecumseth secures loan to end debt around Georgian Bay water...
The Town of New Tecumseth will be using a $9.5-million loan to finally settle a debt around the Georgian Bay pipeline, which sees Collingwood...
